Lost and Found
by La'Ruelia
Summary: Ming finds more questions on her morning walk on the beach.


Note: This is just a one-off little story I thought about while writing for my other story, Collective Memory. It's in the same universe but you don't need to read my other stories to understand it.

* * *

Ming liked to walk the beach at the break of dawn best. The sound of the waves crashing softly against the sand helped ease her anxiety somewhat, though it never tapered off fully from mind.

How long has she been like this? Walking through her land with only a vague idea on how she got here. No memory of her people before the incident that took place almost a decade before. She remembered the attack on Numara and a blinding violet light, but nothing before. She concentrated on her toes in the sand, trying to remember anything earlier than that dreadful night.

The Uhran sorcerer who helped her up could only really tell her a few things. She was Ming Numara, the thousand-year-old queen. She was immortal. She could not die, not really anyway. In the past eight years there had been attempts, one successful though she only woke a moment later with a sour stomach. Her general said it had been a long time since a chef had successfully poisoned her food, and wanted to hire a food taster, but Ming refused. Why waste a life when hers could never be extinguished? If she died it was only a minor inconvenience.

Ming hated the way that sounded.

She buried her toes deeper, watching as the violet sky turned orange. The colors reminding her of the attack on Numara—the burning fire and the purple flash of light. She remembered the monsters, the arthrosaurus, how they damaged her city—her home. She shuddered to think of the mortal lives lost in the chaos, and how they couldn't just come back like she could. Her hands fisted as she tried to remember anything about the outbreak of the ancient beings on the Free Ocean State—about why it happened. How did she not see it coming? She couldn't excuse her lack of memory, she had tried. It only gave her grief, and an unsettling anger towards herself. How could she call herself ruler when she couldn't protect her people?

"You're just in shock like the rest of us," her lady in waiting, Maia, gently reminded her. "It was a surprise attack for us all."

It was an excuse that Ming used, but didn't like. She should have been able to do something. She read in the history books about her unparalleled magic, and that she had taken down many beasts in her time as the Immortal Queen. She should have been able to stop it somehow, but instead had to rely on the charms of others. Particularly, the charm of the user Gongora. His smile seemed nice in her confused state, but, as the years passed, she could only place her growing unease on him. Who was he and why was he here that night?

Ming kept all the letters he sent her. He told her about Uhra and Gohtza, and 'kept her in the know' as he liked to put it, but her pen never wrote back. She couldn't divulge secrets like he could. She didn't trust herself to know if he was a friend or enemy.

Sighing she pulled out one foot from the softness beneath her, and then the other. It would be time soon to start her duty as queen and it wouldn't do to be missing from her Chambers when that young General Kakanas came knocking. Holding her sandals in one hand, and bunching up her light skirt in the other, she prepared herself to walk up the rock stairs, and through the back entrance of her palace.

Just as she was reaching the steps, she turned to take one last relaxed look at the beautiful ocean. Turning her head slightly, she caught something farther down the beach. The waves crashed on beside the unmoving form, and Ming thought it odd. _Maybe just a bundle of branches?_ she thought, but something told her to move closer.

Forgetting her sandals by the rocky edge, she walked quickly towards the oddity. Her feet gaining speed when she noted it was a human laid out on their side. As she bent down she realized the being was a child, a little girl, that had somehow washed up on her shores. One side of her brown hair was in a tangled pigtail, and her once nice dress was ripped apart. No broken bones, but her skin was a ghastly white. Magic, without Ming's bidding, pulsed out of her hands as she pumped them onto the young girl's chest. Soon the little girl was gasping, retching the saltwater from her lungs, and Ming just held her. _Where did this child come from?_

"Mama, papa—" The little girl coughed some more, her sea green eyes opening for a moment. She was chilled to the bone, and Ming wondered how long she was in that ocean. "Mmsorry." She coughed again and went limp.

Ming gathered her up and made her way back towards the palace.

. . .

Lirum sat up quietly in bed. She didn't know where she was. She didn't know how she survived. She didn't know how long she was going to be cooped up in bed and found that none of these things mattered.

It was all her fault anyway.

The elderly woman who cared for her tried to get her to talk several times that morning, but her lips wouldn't move. In its place, she would look away, trying to hold back tears, running one tired hand through her tangled locks.

When the sun was high in the sky, the door opened again. Lirum was in her unfamiliar bed, blanket pulled up over her head. Instead of the creaky older voice, a gentle smooth one greeted her. "Child, are you feeling alright? Do you need anything?"

Curiosity got the better of her, and she peeked out from underneath the blankets. She gasped at the beauty of the woman beside her and knew instantly where she was. She must have traveled far to wind up in Numara. All the stories her mama told her—and then she started to cry.

The Immortal Queen sat at the edge of the bed, and stubbornly Lirum wouldn't move any closer. She gasped, sniffled, and sobbed into her fingers until she felt a hand lay on the top of her head. She let the woman stroke her hair. "I need to know your name."

Mama told her that the Immortal Queen was a gracious woman. Her mother's voice echoed in her mind, _"if we ever get to meet her, you'll be on your best behavior. She is not only a friend, but a queen, and you don't want to embarrass yourself!"_ Lirum pulled her hands away and wiped the mess from her cheeks. _"Although,"_ mama's voice said gently after. _"She would never find a child embarrassing. And not you, Lirum. Ever."_

"My name," Lirum croaked out. She cleared her throat and sucked in a breath, trying to hide her shame from how childishly she had been acting in the grand State of Numara. "Lirum."

"A beautiful name," the kind queen murmured. "I am Ming."

"I know."

Ming seemed to look at her curiously, and Lirum blushed. _"Don't let anyone know about us, Lirum,"_ her father spoke to her. It was a normal conversation between the three of them, one she used to have at least once a week. _"Even if they claim to know us. Unless we are there, and can confirm, don't say a word."_

"Um, I've heard stories." Lirum coughed. She felt terrible, weak, pointless. She curled into herself, wanting to disappear. Another tear rolled down her cheek as she remembered her father's kindness in his deep voice. His strong arms and how they stretched out before her on the cliff. It seemed like a lifetime ago. "I…don't…I want…" She struggled for breath as another jolting cough left her chest.

Ming's hand was back on her, and Lirum felt a warm energy coast its way down her back. She remembered her mother, her steady hands as she would cure away any sickness or pain. She reminisced on her mother's screams as she fell backwards into the sea.

"I want to die," Lirum whispered, as her eyes drifted to sleep.


End file.
